Life is fleeting for a lot of nature’s creatures. Take the black-tailed antechinus here. His existence is cut short due to his intense passion for, well, intense passion. The males literally mates so frantically that they often end up killing themselves in the process.

The antechinus is a small marsupial. It’s a bit like a shrew, growing to about 12 centimeters in length and bit over 100 grams. This particular variety was just recently discovered in Australia, and it the furry guy’s mating habits that raise a lot of eyebrows. Turns out there’s more than one reason to refer to the antechinus as “shaggy.”

Just before the male antechinus celebrates his first birthday, his focus turns to mating in a big way. Each session can drag on for 12 to 14 hours. All that action causes numerous physical complications, from internal hemorrhaging and infections to actual tissue disintegration. It’s probably a good thing they don’t survive, or Australia would probably be overrun with antechinus.

Scientists used to think that the males died so young in some sort of altruistic display that made sure more food was available for the next generation. Clearly that’s not quite the case.

Futurama fans in the Geek audience are probably reminded of the episode “Amazon Women in the Mood,” in which Fry, Kif, Zap Brannigan, and Bender are all sentenced to “death by snu snu.” They’re taken into private chambers and forced to perform like the antechinus.

Fortunately, their injuries aren’t quite as serious — nothing being wrapped in a body cast for a few weeks can’t cure.